(Newser)
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The US Supreme Court closed the door today on legislation designed to protect children from Internet pornography, the New York Times reports. The legislation, which was signed into law in 1998 but never took effect, was repeatedly struck down on First Amendment grounds. It set strict fines and jail time for providers who made explicit material available to minors.

Free-speech advocates argued that providers of legitimate material, like sexual education, could be prosecuted under the law, and that private filters were more effective. Judges reluctantly agreed. “Perhaps we do the minors of this country harm,” one wrote, “if the First Amendment protections are chipped away in the name of their protection.” The Court refused to hear a final appeal by the Bush administration.

I don't believe the Supreme Court struck the law down, exactly. They just declined to hear the challenge, leaving the lower court's finding of unconstitutionality effective. If I'm not mistaken.

Riffran

Jan 21, 2009 7:18 PM CST

Good intention, difficult multi-faceted problem, coupled with verrrrry creative people seeking to peddle their product(porn), and a willingness to do what it takes to get around anything that stops it...There is no one single law or solution to that problem....The best web filter, that can do it all, is the responsible concerned parent, who takes charge of their kids and pays constant attention to what their children are doing........There are always exceptions and issues to any solution, but if enough parents make the effort ,the problem will diminish, but will probably never go away